After a short preview of the game at gamescom, I had the opportunity to embark on Bounty Train Early Access developed by Corbie Games Limited (and published by Daedalic). All in the car!
When we start our journey, the part begins with a tutorial. We are somewhere near Portland and Jerome Cruz tells us about the sudden death of our father. We don't really have time for discussions, we have to go to Portland immediately and, for that, nothing better than to take our train!
This is the opportunity to introduce the operation of the machine. A character must constantly make sure to put the coal in the locomotive. All the frames on the right are used to manage the train:
- on the far left, the emergency stop lever
- the large dial indicates the speed and the two small ones below allow you to manage the coal: quantity being burned and quantity in the reserve
- the crank up launches the speed boost
- the small dial at the top right indicates the steam pressure. If it's in the red, you have to slow down!
- the lever finally allows you to start the engines and move forward
Very quickly, things go wrong and we are attacked by bandits. I click on my character to select it and then ask him to shoot. He uses automatic fire and has an ability (shown at the top of his portrait on the left). Using a revolver, it has an incompressible cooldown every 6 shots (which can still be reduced thanks to abilities gained at each level).
As you can see in the screenshot above, it is possible to position the character in strategic places. Without order, it will position itself where it has the best viewing angle. A cover system provides the bandits with temporary protection. It is of course possible for me to pull on the boxes to withdraw this advantage to him. Finally, last point on this subject: my train has life points. Limiting damage limits expenses!
Everything is going well and here we are in Portland. The cities are made up of 3 screens:
- the station where we arrive. On the platform are potential passengers, quest givers and recruits to join the train crew. Behind, the town hall (CityHall), the place to go to take delivery missions.
- on the left, the depot where it is possible to buy new wagons and repair the train.
- on the right, the market for buying and selling resources.
Namely that the market allows you to position your goods as you see fit in your wagon (and the developers had advised us to always avoid putting flammable elements near the coal and the locomotive ...).
Additional information on the screen tells me about the current date, my reputation, my money, the coal in my locomotive, the free places in my freight cars, the capacities of my train ...
In Portland, Jeremiah teaches me that, to ensure my fortune, I must find my 1 brothers and my sister before July 1962, 3! So I have a year and a half of mops in front of me, to cross the United States in full industrial boom up and down.
While keeping in mind this main mission, it is important not to forget my financial security because traveling is expensive and, currently, the game is blocked if we do not have enough money to travel, requiring to leave zero. Beyond coal (rather cheap), you have to pay a tax to open the tracks and then pay or fight the random events that appear on the tracks. And to fight, you have to hire people who are once again costing dollars!
To make money, two solutions:
- carry passengers
- deliver goods (to be exact, there are two types of deliveries: bringing goods donated by city X to city Y or bringing back to city X where delivery is taken a certain quantity of particular goods to be purchased in neighboring towns)
In both cases, you have to be vigilant because the deadlines are sometimes short, the trips long and the space on the train is not infinite. Some deliveries will simply be impossible with the original train which can only carry 8 units of goods (so when you have to bring 10 or 15 units, it can quickly become too unprofitable to make plenty of round trips). You have to be rigorous, keep in mind (or on the second screen) the map of the United States and try to group deliveries / transports.
Fairly quickly, the money goes up, or in any case stabilizes at an acceptable level which makes it possible to buy new wagons (I advise you quickly to invest in a larger wagon then rather quickly in a locomotive because a larger wagon limit your range with the low power locomotive at the start) and hire a decent crew to defend yourself. Each person who accompanies me (except passenger) benefits from a micro-management of capacities.
If you can afford it, I recommend paying bribes to a few factions as this allows access to special camps where goods can be found at a very good price. Namely that, if you want, you can completely avoid the fights by paying each time, the prices being decreasing according to your reputation with the given faction.
For history fans, know that historical elements are triggered all around us. In addition, the loading screens are also an opportunity to learn more about the real trains of the time.
Still in early access, the game sometimes suffers from a lack of information. Thus, it is not indicated in some quests where the NPC is located. I have missions in my quest journal that I no longer know where to return to. I certainly have merchandise left in several stations and I don't really remember where I was able to drop my first car. It would be good to have some kind of booklet indicating where my possessions are deposited.
But what bothered me the most is without a doubt the lack of a window indicating that my train is full at the start. Indeed, when a delivery is taken at the Town Hall and the train cannot contain everything, part of the merchandise is left on the platform. On the other hand, nothing really indicates it because the quest takes into account all the goods possessed in the current city (therefore, even if a part is on the dock, for the quest, I still have my x resources). On the other hand, when I arrive in the next city, this is where the element "Receive X resources" turns gray and I notice with annoyance that loads of resources have remained behind. It is therefore necessary to make a return trip to rearrange your merchandise and leave ...
Last bug noticed by Clamoune: the train goes beyond the depot window! It was therefore impossible to repair some wagons out of sight.
These are nonetheless minor bugs that will certainly be corrected in the coming months following feedback from players.
To conclude, Bounty Train is an entertaining and fun game. Although a bit repetitive in the missions, I quickly got caught up in the game of deliveries and passengers, going from town to town on my little train to get the best deals possible. Money remains a concern at all times and can quickly curb your thirst for exploration if left unchecked. And I only tested in easy mode, I dare not imagine the puzzle of hard mode!
The game is available on Steam and benefits from a 20% discount until Monday:
Do not hesitate to find the preview produced by Kaegys:
